Butwhatever I placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” (Martin Luther)

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In the Lutheran tradition, we receive our tithes and offerings each week during our worship service; however, online giving is now a 21st century option for most Christian congregations, including Zion Lutheran Church.

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At Zion Lutheran Church we believe that God has given believers in Christ certain commands about how to use finances for the work of the Church. This is our guide for how to respond to God in thanksgiving for His gifts to us. In the New Testament God invites us to give each week in accordance with how we have prospered.

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)

In the Old Testament the percentage was set at 10%, a tithe; in the New Testament we are told to “excel in this grace of giving”

(2 Corinthians 8:7), so certainly anything less than a tithe would not be considered “excelling.” Furthermore, our Lord told us that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

We do not make God poor when we fail to give money to Him properly, but we do make ourselves poor if we do not give according to the standards He sets for us in His Word, the Bible. God does not need our money, but we need to give the way the Bible tells us to in order to overcome the negative influence money and the things of this world can have on us.

FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR GIVING

1. Voluntarily and Cheerfully

Giving must be done voluntarily, not under compulsion, and cheerfully, not grudgingly."The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

2. First Fruits

Giving should be from the first fruits of our labor. Our giving is what we do on the first day of the week before our other expenses come due. The word “tithing” comes from the Old English word for “tenth.” To tithe means to give one-tenth of one’s income, or 10 percent. Tithing was a part of the Old Testament law for Israel (along with the entire law for the nation, including the dietary laws, which stated that one should not eat pork, shellfish, etc.). As such, God promised to bless Israel’s faithfulness to this and all other Old Testament laws:“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” ​

(Malachi 3:10)

Giving should be from the first fruits of our labor. Our giving is what we do on the first day of the week before our other expenses come due. The word “tithing” comes from the Old English word for “tenth.” To tithe means to give one-tenth of one’s income, or 10 percent. Tithing was a part of the Old Testament law for Israel (along with the entire law for the nation, including the dietary laws, which stated that one should not eat pork, shellfish, etc.). As such, God promised to bless Israel’s faithfulness to this and all other Old Testament laws:“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10)

3. Proportionally

Giving is not to be an arbitrarily set dollar amount each week, but rather is to be in accordance with how God has prospered us each week. Thus, each of us should consciously and intentionally determine to set aside a certain proportion (percentage) of our income for Christ’s Church each week.

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)

4. Faithfully

To say that God will necessarily bless us financially if we tithe or do any other good work is to make God beholden to us and to deny the cross of Christ. All things being equal, of course, a life lived in accordance with God’s commands is more blessed that a life lived in disobedience. If we are faithful, God will bless us, but we must realize that God will bless us in the shade of the cross. God graciously promises to give us all that we need for this body and life. Therefore, we should give in faith, trusting that God will provide for all our needs, though not necessarily our wants! After all, if we can trust the Lord with our eternal salvation, can we not trust Him to provide our daily bread?​​

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

It is true, God can build His kingdom without us. If we do not want to give anything toward it, God will not wring His hands and say: “Now I cannot do anything; those on earth do not want to give Me any money.” He does not need us, but He will gladly use us as His instruments whom He will even reward. (C.W.F. Walther)

God’s Word encourages us to cheerfully give a faithful, first-fruits, generous proportion of our income to God’s work in the Church: God knows that where our treasure goes, our hearts will follow. Our tithes and offerings are a confession that we trust in God’s provision and a response of thanksgiving for all His gifts to us. Christians are generous because God has first been generous to us in sending His Son to die for us and provide us with salvation and eternal life.

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.” (C.S. Lewis)